Chapter 9: The Square

Angela trudged through the streets, looking right and left every so often to check if anyone was approaching her. When she heard a voice, or the sound of a car coming, she crouched behind a trashcan, or in the shadow of an alcove. The sun had set hours ago, so she could hide in streets with few streetlamps. This was an upmarket part of town—the patrons at the strip club had all been wearing suits, after all—so she didn’t have to worry about encountering vagrants. She hoped.

There were few people in the side streets she walked down, and she managed to avoid most of them. There was one guy who she’d almost walked into, but he appeared to be high and was too absorbed in his own mind to react to her nudity. Maybe he even thought it was part of his trip.

But she was getting closer to a popular area of town named The Square, a block of bars and nightclubs. That would be full of people on a Saturday night. Indeed, Angela could hear the faint sounds of music and revelry.

And then she heard the sound of a police siren, mingled with the engine of a car, rapidly approaching. Angela turned and put an arm in front of her face to shield her eyes from the car’s headlights. This was it, time to get arrested for public indecency. She closed her eyes and imagined the warm coat they would envelop her in before slamming her body against the hood of the car.

The siren cut out and the car came to a stop. Both doors opened and two male cops got out: a young, nervous one from the driver’s side and an old one with a gray moustache and a bemused expression.

“Good evening, ma’am,” said the young cop, eyes fixed on a spot above Angela’s head. “Nudity is prohibited in public settings. I am required by law to prevent you from causing further disturbances. Please do not resist arrest.”

The cop then pulled off his coat and started walking towards Angela, holding it open in both hands. Her heart fluttered in her chest, and she thought she might kiss him. Finally, clothes! She was only too ready to stop causing further disturbances. Why didn’t she do this earlier?

“Hold on a second there Larry,” said the older cop, ambling over to his partner’s side. “I tried to hint at this in the car, but you can be real thick sometimes, you know?” And then, turning to Angela, “Evening miss.”

Larry stopped in his tracks. The coat remained separated from Angela’s body by several feet.

“What do you mean, Bob?” asked Larry. “Was there something else I was supposed to say to her?”

“It’s bigger than that, son. You haven’t been keeping up to date with your precedents.”

“Precedents?” By now, Larry was holding the coat loosely, in one hand, letting it trail on the ground.

Bob grunted in disapproval. “Sunshine Valley versus PD. Three months ago. An important precedent for this very case.”

Larry scratched his head. “The one with the nudist resort?”

“The very same. Judge ruled in favor of them, against us. Relevant upshot: public nudity isn’t actually illegal.”

“Really? Wow.”

Bob glanced back at Angela apologetically. “Sorry about all this ma’am. My partner’s still pretty green. And might I just say, you’re looking lovely tonight.” Then, to Larry, softly, “Look, if she’s just walking around, we can’t do anything about it. She’d need to be assaulting someone or engaged in a public sex act for us to take her in, so put that coat back on.”

The sight of Larry pulling his coat back on was heart-breaking. Angela glanced at her fingers, then down at her pussy. Was this what she had to do to get clothes? Pleasure herself in front of two cops? She lowered her shaking hand.

“Big fines for that sort of thing. A few grand usually.”

Angela’s hand jerked back up and she rubbed the back of her neck nonchalantly.

Larry had put his coat back on and he and Bob were climbing back into their car. “Have a nice night, ma’am. Apologies for the mix-up,” Larry said.

The cop car sped off, leaving Angela alone once more. So public nudity was legal, except for in a strip club. That made a whole lot of sense.

Angela looked at her hand again. She was disgusted at herself for what she’d almost done. Would she have actually gone through with it? A vision flashed through her mind of Larry slamming her against the hood of the cop car and cuffing her hands behind her back, juices still dripping from her fingers and pussy. No! That wasn’t her. She was a temporarily naked girl, not a porn actress.

The sound of music from the Square was quite loud now. Angela didn’t know this part of town well, but figured she couldn’t be more than block from the place. She pulled the bills out of the hair-tie on her ankle and counted them up. It would be just enough for a drink. Public nudity was legal, the nudists had shown it. She very much wanted to stop being a nudist, but everything she’d tried so far had failed.

“You win,” whispered Angela, looking up at the sky. “You hear me, universe? You win! I give up! No clothes for Angela, she has to stay naked! Fine, I’ll do it. I’ll do it!”

Angela sniffed, wiped the beginnings of tears from her eyes, and then started off in the direction of the music. She strode with her arms at her sides and her eyes forward, a woman on a mission. A mission to get a fucking drink, because she sure could use one.

The Square was bustling with happy people in various levels of intoxication. Most of them noticed Angela as she walked past, but apart from a few wolf-whistles and some applause, no-one reacted to her with anything other than their eyes. Well, there also were a few camera clicks and flashes, which she tried not to think about, keeping up her purposeful stride.

After a long day of running and hiding, of watching out for other people and avoiding anywhere crowded, of increasingly desperate attempts to find something, anything to wear ... this wasn’t actually so bad. Sure, Angela felt herself redden at the particularly enthusiastic wolf-whistles, but nothing bad was happening. A few women she passed scolded their boyfriends, and one even had her hand clapped over his eyes, but they seemed more mad with their men for looking than with her for being there. Some women even shouted cries of support.

Angela felt a hand lightly touch her forearm. She turned to see a smiling woman. “Excuse me. I just wanted to say that I love what you’re doing here! You’re beautiful. I wish I had your confidence. Could I get a picture?”

The woman was so sweet and kind that Angela could hardly say no. She nodded, making the woman smile even broader. “Beth!” she shouted. “Come take a photo!”

A second woman, Beth, appeared with her phone. The first woman put an arm around Angela’s back and pulled her to her side. She smiled for the camera. “Say body positivity!” shouted Beth. The phone camera flashed.

“Thank you so much!” said the woman, after Beth had taken a few photos. “Enjoy the rest of your evening!”

Angela waved goodbye and continued purposefully to her destination, which was the closest bar she could find. Before she reached it, two young guys came running up to her. They looked about college age and were visibly sweating. Finally, Angela thought, someone more embarrassed than her. She raised an eyebrow at them.